• The aerobic exercise programme comprises of three phases:
  • Warm Up.
  • Aerobic Exercise.
  • Cool Down.

• Frequency – 3 to 5 times a week
• How hard – within your limits.

• Warm Up
  • It helps to get your heart muscles and joints ready for your actual work-out.
  • This will prevent injuries.
  • Characteristics of the warm up periods includes:
    • Duration of about 5 to 10 minutes.
    • Repeat of the warm-up exercises.
• Aerobic Exercise
  • Involves exercising large muscle groups for example walking.
  • Exercise period from 10 to 30 minutes depending on your capacity.
  • Know your limits.
• Cool Down
  • It helps the muscles to recover and prevents discomfort.
  • Characteristic of the Cool Down Period includes:-
    • Duration of about 5 to 10 minutes.
    • Repeat of the warm-up exercises.

Exercise Capacity

• Talk Test: Slow down if you are too breathless to talk during exercise.
• Calculating Target Heart Rate (THR):

220 – age x 60% and 90% of Heart Rate (HR)

• You should try to keep the heart rate between 90 and 135 beats per minute.
• Consult your doctor if:
  • Your Resting Heart Rate is near or above your Target Heart Rate
  • You are on any medication which can slow down your Heart Rate.

• To feel for your heart rate, palpate the pulse at level of the wrist at the base of the thumb.
• To calculate your Heart Rate, palpate and count the pulse for 60 seconds (1 minute).

For more information on Exercise Workload

Exercise Workload

A metabolic equivalent (METS) is defined as multiples of resting metabolic rate . Exercises performed at 2 METS requires double the resting metabolism, 3 METS requires triple the resting metabolism and so forth, The resting metabolic rate is measured as amount of oxygen consumed in a minute per kilogram of body mass, a measurement of energy used per kg body weight per minute in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. One MET is the energy expenditure when a person is at rest. This is equivalent to 3.5 kilocalories /kg/hour.

1 MET = resting VO2 (volume of oxygen used) which is approximately 3.5ml (oxygen) per kilogram (body weight) per minute. Resting VO2 (One MET) = 3.5 ml x kg x minutes.

For the purpose of calculating your energy expenditure during physical activity, the formula is:

Below are examples of energy expenditure for various body weights and activities.

Estimated exercise energy (METs)/calorie (Kilocalorie/hour) expenditure: